Return Triumphant
by Taliya
Summary: An anthology of separate instances detailing the heists and adventures of the third Kaitou KID, Edogawa Conan—not that Inspector Nakamori Ginzou knew any better. References to character death. Rated for language. Part 3 of the Fanfare series. Marked as complete, but will add one-shots as needed.
1. Heist: Revival

_Detective Conan_ and _Magic Kaito_ characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

* * *

Return Triumphant

By Taliya

* * *

Heist: Revival

* * *

Summary: Kaitou KID's inaugural heist draws more familiar faces than he expected—and resurrects a few ghosts in the process.

* * *

Chapter-specific warnings: References to major character death, angst like whoa

* * *

With the help of Kuroba Chikage and Jii Konosuke, a heist notice from Kaitou KID had been written and delivered to the desk of one Superintendent Nakamori Ginzo, head of Division Two's Kaitou KID Task Force of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. It had, after years of training, been child's play to slip into and out of the multistoried office unnoticed, and a small bug had been planted under the corner of the inspector's desk so that his reaction could be heard by the newly-minted thief and his two assistants.

The trio consisted of Chikage, Jii, and sixteen-year-old Edogawa Conan—who was in reality twenty-six-year-old Kudou Shinichi: homicide detective, and the third and current successor to the Kaitou KID mantle. They sat at the dining table in the Kuroba home one Friday morning in July, eating breakfast that Chikage and Conan had jointly prepared and chatting easily with one another, a small transceiver-speaker resting innocently on the center of the table quietly issuing the early-morning chatter of the members of the Kaitou KID Task Force. Jii had dropped by the home shortly after seven so that he could also listen to the metaphorical fireworks going off.

"Are you serious, Chikage-san, he really was _that_ afraid of them?"

The widow smiled in fond remembrance. "Kaito was deathly afraid of them. Reacted like a cat touching scalding-hot water, though he put a lot of effort into hiding that phobia of his."

Jii chortled. "Never would have thought it considering he jumped off the Queens Elizabeth after the Black Star heist, did you?"

Conan chuckled ruefully. "I was a little more preoccupied with making sure Ran was actually wearing clothes. I thought that he actually _had_ stripped her of her clothing and left her naked somewhere. I mean—" he flushed in remembrance, "—he even had lacy pink undergarments!"

Both Jii and Chikage burst out laughing. "That boy…" Chikage choked out, "was utterly _shameless_."

"You could say that again," the detective laughed. "I'm amazed that—"

"_HAH?!_" Nakamori's surprised voice crackled through the small speaker. There was a startled outcry from his subordinates at their superior's eruption, and the three at the table froze in their conversation only to stifle their titters at the inspector's reaction so they could listen in. They had not caught him entering the office. _"This is—this is—"_

_"Na—Nakamori-keibu…?"_

_"KAITOU KID! I WILL CATCH YOU FOR SURE THIS TIME!"_ the Superintendent announced to everyone within a five kilometer radius, _"I knew you hadn't died the first time, and I wasn't going to fall for that trick a second time!"_

_"Um… keibu…?"_

_"A notice! Finally! I have a notice here on my desk!"_ Nakamori began to recite:

"In the national sanctuary of heritage  
When the pig greets the maker of rice cake,  
I will claim the Phoenix's Egg.

-Kaitou KID"

There was a brief pause as the men absorbed the notice before the superintendent bellowed, _"Konno! Have your team look up the Phoenix's Egg! Find out where the target is located! Yamabuki, confirm the date and time with the quarter moon and the pig! We'll catch him this time!"_

There was a resounding chorus of agreement from the Task Force as they dispersed to perform their appointed tasks, and Conan reached out to shut the transmitter off with a chuckle. "Nakamori-keibu sounds fired up," he commented, grinning widely.

Jii wiped a tear from his eye. "It's been a while since I've heard that."

"Well then," Chikage said briskly, all business, "Why don't we recheck your equipment first before relaxing for the rest of the day? Jii and I will leave around seven this evening to double-check the preparations on our ends, and hopefully in two nights' time we'll give them a heist to remember." She winked cheekily. "I think both Kaito and Touichi would approve of this one!"

* * *

The rotors of the helicopter thrummed loudly in his ears as Jii expertly piloted the craft, the generated winds whipping at the black cloak he wore over the trademark white suit as he stood by the open passenger hatch. From this vantage point Conan could see the literal sea of people gathered outside the museum, all of them chanting KID's name.

The idea that these people were rooting for him, hoping that he succeeded was… breathtakingly amazing. The excitement from the crowd, added to the knowledge of what he was about to do and who he now was, sent his pulse racing in a manner he had only experienced when he had chased Kuroba Kaito as Kaitou KID all those years ago. It brought a nostalgic smile to his face, but he transformed it into KID's trickster grin because he knew Kaito would _never_ want anybody to be unhappy on his account.

Conan had studied his face extensively in the mirror after he had initially donned the costume, trying out different expressions. The one that he knew would be his version of KID's smile had been a mixture of Kaito's mischievous, fun-loving grin and his own crafty, devious smirks. Even now it amazed him how similar he appeared to Kaito, and according to Chikage and Jii, his skill in magic and sleight of hand, while nowhere near close enough to rival Kaito's or Touichi's yet, was more than adequate to work for Kaitou KID, especially if he had help from his two older assistants. Still, both of the veterans had faith that Conan would soon reach his predecessors' levels what with how hard he trained to improve.

The only hitch in the whole thing had been his voice. Despite all the training that his mother had put him through, Conan had never been able to obtain that same vocal flexibility that either the previous KIDs possessed. To make up for it, Conan had asked his former neighbor Agasa Hiroshi to create an item similar to his old voice-changing bow tie—except that now, it was a thin, flesh-toned silicone strip that he wore around his throat, much like the one that Akai Shuichi wore during his stint as Okiya Subaru. It was sticky enough to stay without any additional adhesives and remained affixed through his practices in the clothing quick-changes and was practically invisible.

He was able to modulate his voice with the aid of two small, equally hidden electromagnets adhered to his right hand: one disc was stuck to the tip of his ring finger, the other at the base of the fleshy mound of his thumb. The relatively awkward locations of the magnets meant that he would not accidentally change his voice as he went about the heist—there was a very specific hand movement required to change his voice. Thankfully, Conan planned to use his normal voice with a slight lilting affectation that he could manage without the voice changer. It was in keeping with the manner that both Kaito-KID and Touichi-KID had spoken.

Jii maneuvered the helicopter into place above the back roof of the museum and rolled out an electronically retractable rope ladder. Holding the aircraft steady, Jii twisted so that he could see Conan and yelled, "Good luck, Conan-sama!" over the noise of the rotors. Conan smiled warmly back at the elderly man and began his descent to the rooftop. Jii had the helicopter sway a little as his searchlight roved the rooftop, presumably to preemptively spot Kaitou KID.

Once Conan made it to the roof, he muttered an affirmative into the small earpiece in one ear he, Jii, and Chikage were connected to via the same frequency, and the pilot pulled the ladder back up. The earpiece in his other ear was tuned into the police radio frequency, listening in to the Task Force's last-minute orders.

Conan was not surprised to learn that Hakuba Saguru had returned to Japan for the heist; after speaking extensively with Nakamori Aoko numerous times whenever she came home for the holidays he had learned that the half-Briton had long suspected and accused Kaito of being KID. That he would return from his native England for this was only par for the course for a detective who had dedicated a portion of his life chasing after the phantom thief. Now back on solid ground, the detective-turned-thief had to take shelter under an eave to forcefully calm himself down. He wondered if Kaito had ever felt so excited that he shook just before the start of a heist.

With a final breath, the phantom thief began the task of creeping to his appointed appearance site, every now and then ducking into the eaves as a searchlight rolled over his location. He made it with two minutes to spare and crouched behind the apex of the roof, eyes switching between the sky and his pocket watch. As Hakuba counted down the seconds in his earpiece, Conan readied a smoke bomb as Kaitou KID's grin spread across his face.

On the last second, KID dropped the pellet, engulfing the area in a blast of haze as he stood up on the apex of the roof, his black cloak stowed. As it cleared he stretched his arms wide to the roar of his fans and greeted them with, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" in English. He took a few breaths to savor the moment before he tipped his hat and swept out his cape as he bent into an elegant bow, and the noise from his audience swelled.

Mixed somewhere in the ruckus of the crowd, Conan could hear the superintendent's promises to capture him this time. KID grinned rakishly as he dropped another smoke bomb and disappeared from view, when in reality he had slid down the side of the angled roof covered in the black cloak once more. He twisted right before he reached the edge, fingertips grasping the edge as he used his momentum to swing himself through a window Chikage had previously picked open.

KID tumbled into the hallway in a smooth barrel roll that had him rolling easily to his feet and he once again stowed the cloak. He glanced up and down the hallway to check for Nakamori's men, and finding none, grinned and sprinted down the hall only to quickly pop a ventilation grate in the wall open and slither into the ductwork with no one the wiser.

With the grate propped shut behind him, KID crawled through the duct and eyed the flurry of activity in the security room of the museum. There were officers watching multiple monitors showing camera feeds, most of them focused on the target of the heist: the Phoenix's Egg. The ovoid gemstone was a faceted crimson ruby that weighed in at twenty-three carats and was etched and inlaid with delicate gold filigree.

While the size of the egg made it noteworthy, it was the sheer intricacy of the gold ornamentation that made it one of a kind. Decorated with miniature likenesses of the East Asian phoenix, the ruby was a trade gift from the Chinese Qin Dynasty's founding emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to the Indian Mauryan Empire's fifth emperor, Dasharatha Maurya.

The Phoenix's Egg rested in a custom case much like the Fabergé Memories Eggs, which meant that snapping the case shut would keep the egg and its ornamentation safe from being jostled too much, as it was part of a traveling display. KID grinned at the image of his heist target on the screens and tapped a few buttons on a handheld transmitter before he backed away from the security room's grate. He continued crawling around the maze of piping, using a flashlight to light the passages until he reached the room with the Phoenix's Egg.

_"How are you doing, Conan-sama?"_ came Jii's voice in one ear, the rotors of the helicopter still audible in the background.

"Just about to set off the smoke," he replied as he made a mental note to discuss how he was to be addressed during a heist. It would not do to have his earpiece fall out and have someone hear his name being called over it. But to be fair, the earpiece connecting him to Jii and Chikage was a safety precaution for this heist—a safety net for the newly minted phantom thief. Once he was more comfortable with running heists he would be on his own unless he specifically called them, though they both promised to be no further than a phone call away if he needed help.

The aging assistant hummed in satisfaction, and the former Phantom Lady replied, _"Let us know if you need assistance."_

KID replied with a quick, "Of course."

Resting just next to the grate was a smoke bomb with a wireless transmitter that Chikage had helpfully installed prior to the heist. The thief slid a gas mask over his face before pressing the small detonator. He watched with satisfaction as smoke billowed explosively from the device, the other grates in the room blasting similar white haze into the room. The looped feed he had initiated near the security room would prevent the officers in there from seeing the smoke, and the gas would knock out the eight officers in the nearby vicinity of the Egg while dropping visibility to nothing. A ninth officer was present as well—one who was not part of the police's plan—and who was none other than Phantom Lady in disguise.

KID eeled out of the duct with easy agility, navigating easily through the haze to his prize. Producing a small knife, he pried open the case opposite the invisible hinges Jii had installed when the display had been commissioned. The front panel swung open with ease. He snapped the case containing the Egg shut, whisked it from the case, and stowed it safely on his person via a custom-made harness that would keep it secure as he flipped and jumped. A handheld soldering gun adhered the glass panel back into place, evidence of his forced entry melted away by the heat of the gun.

By now, the smoke had begun to thin. The phantom thief hopped and flipped himself onto the tallest display case, up near the ceiling where a large, intricately woven area rug was hung. He slid into a lounging position on top of the glass cabinet, appearing completely at ease as he waited for the looped feed to cut and for the police to realize that the Egg was gone. A hand gesture, and Phantom Lady slipped out of the room to blend in with the other patrolling officers.

The magician smirked when a string of expletives filled one ear, courtesy of an enraged Nakamori Ginzou. He gave them thirty seconds to make their appearance in the gallery, and his eyes marked the various methods of escape he had at his disposal. The inspector and a veritable army of officers thundered into the room, eyes roving the smoke-fogged gallery through masks. "Where are you KID?" roared Nakamori.

"Just watching these good men take a nap," KID replied, waving his hand in a "hello" gesture as law enforcement finally discovered his location. Piece said, he rolled backwards and off the case, landing in a rolling crouch. A masked officer greeted him with a spare uniform, and the magician quick-changed in order to disappear into the sea of police.

"Spread out and find him!" the inspector was shouting as he directed his men to search every nook and cranny for the white-clad magician.

"He's not here!" KID called out with a disguised voice as he and the other officer he knew to be Phantom Lady appeared from behind the display. "He disappeared!"

Nakamori snarled. He might have been suspicious had only one officer appeared from behind the display—but two had appeared, and Kaitou KID was only one person. The idea of an accomplice never once crossed his mind, though to be fair both Kaito and Touichi had always managed to make it seem as though KID had strictly worked solo. While more and more men confirmed the lack of a hiding gentleman thief, KID and Lady escaped the crowd of police with little fanfare.

"See you outside," the disguised woman said once they reached the foyer.

KID nodded with a grin as he reverted back to the iconic white outfit. "I've an escape to stage." So saying, he turned and began to run up the main staircase to the fourth floor, waving merrily and grinning at every security camera he passed. Barreling his way into an emergency stairwell, he flew up the last flight and exited onto the roof.

A brisk wind plucked at his cape, tie, and clover charm, sending them fluttering and twirling. The full moon hung serenely over the Tokyo skyline, the cloudless sky twinkling with the few stars bright enough to penetrate the city's light pollution. KID pulled the case from its harness and cracked the outer protection open. Plucking the Egg from its resting place, he held it up to the moonlight for inspection.

Though the detailed gold filigree obstructed large portions of the ruby, there was still enough of it exposed that allowed him to see through the gem. The jewel appeared clear within, and KID knew that this one was not the one he sought. _Well, you'll be going back to Nakamori soon enough._

"If you happen to be an impostor, you're a damn good one," a lightly-accented voice remarked over the soft whistling of the breeze.

KID turned on his heel as he slid the Egg back into its case, tucking it safely away before stuffing his hands in his pockets, eyes turning to his newest opponent. "Whoever said I was an imposter?" he asked evenly, the lilting tone Kaito had favored when he had been KID interweaving with his own voice. His tone was his own version of the gentleman thief—different, yet still the same. He withdrew the card gun from his right pocket and twirled it easily on a finger as he grinned rakishly at the shadowy figure. "Do you think an impersonator would have escaped Division Two's finest as easily as I have?"

He watched as Hakuba Saguru stepped out from the shadows of the stairwell, dressed in a lightweight trench coat. The half-Briton was dressed as impeccably as ever in a pressed button up, a silk tie held down with a polished gold tie clip, sharply creased trousers, and oxfords polished to a shine. His wavy blond hair was neatly combed and gelled, not a strand displaced by the wind.

Hakuba froze in his approach when he was about three meters away, hazel eyes focused on KID's face as he gasped in shock. His already pallid Westerner's complexion paled even more under the moonlight, and he looked immensely shaken—as though he had seen a ghost. The magician watched as the blond swallowed thickly, working his mouth in an effort to form comprehensible words. "Ku—Kuroba-kun?" he stuttered quietly, and behind his Poker Face the thief felt his heart break at the fragile, desperate hope he heard in the blond detective's voice.

KID bowed his head. "I'm afraid your friend has not been with us for a long time," he murmured, his voice contrite. It was a break in the character of the normally playful phantom thief, but it was Conan—_Shinichi_—who spoke the unvoiced apology, allowed his true self to bleed through for this one moment of commiseration.

He watched as Hakuba's shoulders visibly sagged as he ducked his head, and abruptly KID realized that the detective had suddenly lost his friend all over again at the shattered belief that the magician who stood before him had been his teenaged rival. He listened as the blond struggled to control his ragged breathing, and his heart ached for his loss.

"I am sorry," KID whispered, watching the Interpol officer grieve for a moment before he turned and made for the edge of the roof, both to escape and to give the other man the space to mourn in private.

"Wait!"

KID wished he could stay, could listen to what Hakuba had to say that weighed so heavily on his mind, but the orders being barked into his ear by the police warned him that they were on their way up to the roof. With a regretful glance at the blond. "I'm sorry I cannot stay," he began and watched as Hakuba's face crumpled, "But if you feel the need to air your grievances I wouldn't mind meeting you after…?"

Hakuba's head shot up, eyes alight with a near manic hope. "I promise not to arrest you," he quickly said in reply. It was a response that the magician knew a younger Hakuba Saguru would have never even considered.

And KID realized that the blond was subconsciously seeking closure. "Are you staying with your father for the duration of your visit?"

"Yes," the detective promptly answered.

The thief nodded. "I will find you there." KID forced a grin onto his face and tipped his hat at the staring detective. "Until then, have a good evening, Tantei-san," he said, and swan dived off the edge of the building. The pulley system that Chikage had previously installed and to which he had clipped himself into slowed his descent, allowing him to safely land on the ground. A push of a transmitter button had the clamps on the roof disengaging, and the cable was retracted into a coil that was anchored to a nearby tree. KID changed quickly into nondescript streetwear, taking the pulley and coiled cable with him.

He nonchalantly strode into the crowd and then past, mind churning on what Hakuba Saguru could possibly want to discuss with him.

_"Conan? Status?"_

Conan blinked, Chikage's voice rousing him from his contemplation. "Out of the museum," he answered, "and headed for the rendezvous point."

_"Copy, Conan-sama,"_ Jii replied, and there was silence from the earpiece that connected the magicians and phantom thieves.

The teen yanked the earpiece that was set to the police frequency out, no longer needing to listen to their orders. He ambled towards the parking garage that Jii's Vanden Plas Princess 1100 was parked in. Conan found the vehicle on the third floor, Jii and Chikage leaning against the back bumper and quietly talking. They both straightened to greet him, their celebratory smiles sliding off their faces at Conan's pensive and somewhat gloomy expression.

"What happened?" Chikage asked as she approached, reaching out to clasp his shoulders as if to physically inspect him for injuries, to reassure that he was not a ghost.

They traded concerned looks when Conan replied softly, "Hakuba Saguru."

"Oh," the Kuroba widow exhaled and dropped her arms from his shoulders. The heaviness in her voice made Conan recognize that her thoughts had instantly gone to her long-deceased child. There was silence for a long moment before she suggested, "Let's… continue this conversation in the car."

The three of them slid into the black vehicle, and it was a while before their driver broke the silence. "How was he?" Jii asked, cautiously curious.

Conan swallowed. "He—he didn't look so well…" His voice trailed off, and he had to clear his throat before he tried again. "I think it was like a sucker punch to the gut for him." He let that statement settle for a moment before he added, "I've agreed to meet him at his house." Both Chikage and Jii's expressions morphed into concern. "He won't unmask me," Conan said quickly, trying to quell their rising anxiety, "He promised he wouldn't and seemed to only want to talk."

There was silence before Jii hesitantly spoke. "If he has promised, then I believe it is safe for you to go." When Chikage opened her mouth to protest, the older man held up a hand, silently asking permission to continue. The woman subsided. "Hakuba-kun had always been a thorn in Bocchama's side. But in all my years of listening to the two interact, Hakuba-kun had never once acted dishonorably. I believe it was he who slipped Bocchama's glove away, kept any potential DNA samples to be gained from his glove out of the hands of the police when Nightmare fell to his death."

Conan frowned. "I remember that case, though not much of the details."

"Hakuba-kun had chased after Bocchama once he had stolen the Dark Knight—a pair of black opal earrings. He encountered Nakamori-chan chasing after Kenta Connery-kun, the son of ICPO officer Jack Connery-san. They arrived in a warehouse to Bocchama up on an aging catwalk with card gun in hand and missing a glove, Jack Connery on the floor dead with the missing glove in one hand and the earrings in the other, and Nightmare's mask several meters away with a card embedded in the forehead." The old assistant sighed.

"Because that glove touched skin, that was definite DNA evidence. And yet the police never mentioned obtaining Bocchama's glove as a piece of evidence. I can only conclude that Hakuba-kun realized that Bocchama had tried and failed to save Connery-san, and ensured the mask was off his face before Kenta-kun saw that his father was actually a murderer.

"So this is why I have faith that Hakuba-kun will stay true to his word and not unmask you. You should definitely be careful and have an escape plan or two ready, but I do not believe he will pose as the most obvious threat to you should you visit him."

Conan turned his eyes to Chikage to gauge her reaction. She sighed as well. "I've only ever heard Kaito insult that boy from day one. And yet despite the very prejudiced point of view, I could tell that Hakuba-kun was a respectable young man, if a little headstrong." She smiled faintly and stared at her live-in houseguest with warm concern mingled with sadness. "I think you should talk to him, Conan. Seeing you as you were tonight probably brought certain ghosts back to life."

"Yeah," Conan agreed heavily, "that's what I thought too." The rest of the trip back to Ekoda was quiet, each of the car's occupants lost in their own thoughts. Upon arriving at the Kuroba house, Jii asked if Conan wanted a lift to Hakuba's. "Thanks, but I'll be fine," the teenager replied. "It's really late, and I don't want you to accidentally be seen driving Kaitou KID around."

Chikage and Conan bid Jii a good night—or rather, morning at this point, and made their way into the house. "You'll be okay?" Chikage asked as Conan headed for the stairs.

Conan paused on the steps, turning to gaze upon the woman before nodding resolutely. "I'll be fine. Sleep well, Chikage."

"Come back safely, Conan," she replied before heading to the master bedroom on the ground floor to prepare for bed.

Conan murmured his confirmation, then made his way towards his room—and one of the entrances to KID's hidden workshop. He dropped through the revolving portrait, tucking the Egg safely on a counter before considering how he wished to appear before the blond.

* * *

The iconic white outfit was out. Conan had no desire to inspire flashback-induced panic attacks in the blond. But neither could he go with his simple reconnaissance blacks—it left too much of his near-identical-to-Kaito face exposed. So a partial mask would be used. Decision made, he shuffled to the vanity that housed all of his cosmetics, prosthetics, wigs, and contacts. The thief settled on just enough of a disguise to change the shape and angles of his face, and green contacts to further separate himself from Kuroba Kaito.

Jawline more angular with higher cheekbones and nose bridge, Conan studied himself in the mirror. His reflection appeared to be half Asian, half Caucasian when one included the changed eye color and the rust-brown wig. Tossing on baggy cargo pants, a blue and white-striped Tokyo Spirits jersey, and a faded black baseball cap bearing the curvy mountain and sun logo of the Whistler Blackcomb Resort, he tossed a few canisters of sleeping gas, his card gun, and a pair of lightweight tactile climbing gloves into his pockets. Conan could not recall if Kaito had ever been a proficient snowboarder—though he was a better than average skier—but as Whistler was renowned for their snowboarding trails, he felt it was a safe enough choice.

He glanced over an old blueprint of the Hakuba home before he left, and he could not help but wonder why Kaito had ever felt the need to obtain this particular set of blueprints. The early hours of the spring predawn was pleasantly cool as Conan made his way to the Hakuba residence at a light jog. As he neared the large house he slowed and hid in a neighbor's tree across the way, eyes searching for security cameras. He slid the KID monocle on and activated the night vision feature, confirming what he had seen with his naked eyes.

The entire house was dark, though KID spotted one balconied door on the second floor that had been left open. It was as clear an invitation as the magician thief was going to get, barring Hakuba highlighting up the unconventional entrance with neon lights. He double-checked the direction the various cameras were pointed and mentally mapped out the best route to get to the balcony without being spotted by the cameras as he pulled his gloves onto his hands.

Flipping out of the tree into a crouch, KID sprinted across the street, staying within the cover of the shadows between the street lamps. He vaulted over the exterior wall, landing in a blind spot. He slid around the areas monitored by the cameras, nimbly making his way through the garden without leaving a trace of his passing.

Sidling up next to the brick wall of the house, the thief tested his grip before he began the climb up to the second floor. The door in question was a Juliet balcony; there was just enough space for a body to crouch and hide in. KID flipped onto the balcony with barely a sound, ears straining to hear any sort of sound that would indicate a trap.

The house was silent—and rightfully so at a quarter past three in the morning—though with law enforcement inhabitants, sleep tended to be more touch and go. Using a small mirror, KID peeked through the open door. A bedroom greeted him, and sitting on the bed, dressed for sleep and partway under the covers, was Hakuba Saguru. The door leading to the rest of the house was closed, and—KID raised an eyebrow in surprise—several white noise generators were scattered about the room.

Marginally relaxing at the lack of security cameras or recording devices within the bedroom, the magician slipped into the interior of the home of the Superintendent General. "I will admit I was not expecting this warm of a welcome," he murmured, standing just inside the balcony doors and backlit by a beam of moonlight.

"I promise I pose no threat to you this night." KID turned his eyes on the blond detective. Even with the moonlight bleaching the color from his complexion, Hakuba did not look particularly healthy. His eyes were glassy, and he appeared to be in some form of shock. KID wondered how he had made it home, and whether or not someone was keeping an eye on his condition.

"You don't look well, Tantei-san," the thief remarked, a worried frown evident on his face despite the pulled-down bill of his cap. Despite the concern in his voice, KID made sure to stay near his best point of escape.

Hakuba chuckled sardonically. "I've certainly been worse," he replied, and his gaze abruptly sharpened with laser-like focus on the magician. "And you…" his voice trailed off and his gaze phased out and dropped to his interlocked fingers, which rested above the duvet covering his legs. "I don't—I don't know you… do I?"

The slight quaver in the blond's normally confident voice—_hurt_, though he had to hide it. KID tilted his head in curiosity as he asked softly, "_Should_ you know me?"

A choked laugh escaped from Hakuba. "I thought I did."

"Tantei-san—"

"Don't call me that!" KID did not flinch, per se, but he did stiffen at the detective's sudden outburst. Hakuba's breaths were rough and shaky as he hissed sibilantly, "I went _eight years_ without hearing that from anyone." Those hazel eyes rose to catch his, and the gentleman thief caught the glimmer of tears. "And then _you_ come along—and you have the same voice, and from what I can tell the same appearance as—" He swallowed thickly before releasing a mixed chuckle and sob. "I'm just grasping at straws, aren't I?"

It felt like his chest was being compressed in a vice. KID knew what kind of man Hakuba was—knew how proud, how intelligent, how driven he was. And yet all he saw before him was a broken man desperately trying to shield the shattered pieces of himself from him. With great hesitance he gently proposed, "Then what would you like me to address you as?"

Shudders rippled across the blond's frame as he struggled to regain control of himself. "I… I don't know. I don't care, since I don't plan on participating in another of your heists ever again."

KID blinked, feeling as though he had been metaphorically slapped across the face. "You're giving up on me?" he whispered, feeling something inside him drop down to his feet even as disappointment welled up from within.

"No," Hakuba breathed with a shake of his head. "I honestly don't think I ever could." He paused, visibly calming himself with several deep breaths. "I want to catch you," he began, and once again locked anguished eyes with the thief. "I want to catch you so badly my chest aches at the idea of not chasing you. But if I do, I don't think my sanity would survive." The detective dropped his gaze yet again. "I'd only see my dead friend in you each time I saw you, and I—I just _can't_."

KID bowed his head mournfully. "I understand," he murmured in reply. There was a moment of quiet between the two before he said, "I meant what I said earlier, on the roof of the museum. I truly _am_ sorry for your loss."

A sob escaped the detective before he could contain it. "Much as I would like to blame you, I have no one to blame but myself. I mean—" and here he laughed, a smidge hysterically, "—here I am trying to actively dig up my ghosts when most people would do anything to lay them to rest." He wiped his eyes with the cuff of his nightshirt, and had KID not been carefully listening, he would have never heard the whispered, "I never should have returned to Japan."

Words could not describe how wretched the thief felt for the blond. As it was, it took all of the Poker Face training that had been figuratively pounded into him by Chikage and Jii to maintain his air of miserable calm. "Hakuba-san…"

"I'm catching the first flight out in the morning, so you won't have to deal with me ever again." The words were sharp, as though he had forced them out. "But just—" He sighed, ruffling his hair in agitation. "I don't know who you are," Hakuba began haltingly, his voice strengthening and evening out the longer he spoke. "I don't know where you come from, or what kind of person you are. But if you are the kind of person that I think you are, then Kaitou KID is something more—_has_ to be something more—something that is beyond just thievery and illusions."

KID watched the detective, who glared at the duvet with trembling lips and clenched fists. "And I can't help but wonder if I have been wrong all these years," he continued, his voice flavored by something heavy but at the same time, absent—as though he had forgotten that he had an audience. "If—I'd been the one to have gotten him killed with all of my accusations."

The thief's eyes widened at the other man's confession, at the guilt that he now realized permeated everything Hakuba had said. "No," he breathed, needing to reassure the detective that he was not at fault. "His death was not your fault!"

"It was stated that he died in a car accident," Hakuba mumbled before shaking his head. "But I don't believe it. He couldn't possibly have died in such a normal manner."

The phantom thief wished he could curl up into a little ball and disappear in the face of Hakuba's self-reproach. Feeling as though his tongue were made of lead, he quietly admitted, "He did die in such a manner. I know because—" KID paused, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat as he stared at the carpeted floor. "I know because… because I was the one to perform CPR on him on the way to the hospital."

Hakuba had completely stilled at the magician's admission before all the tension left him and he slumped into a curled, uncomfortable-looking heap on his bed. A low, hitched sob drifted from the general direction of the bed before a heartfelt mumbled, _"Thank you."_

KID released a shaky exhale. "I'm sorry that I am not the one you wanted. But I hope I've given you a little closure." Grasping the doorknob to the balcony's door, he murmured, "Be well, Hakuba-san," and exited the bedroom. Upon hearing the click of the lock Conan fled, tears blurring his vision as he returned to the Kuroba house.

Conan did not remember the journey back, but a restless Chikage was there to greet him with a tight hug and tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. The two embraced for a long time simply standing in the genkan, seeking and providing warmth and comfort to the other.

"I'm sorry," Conan breathed, his tears dampening the shoulder of the woman's shirt as he apologized for nothing in specific, but for everything that the woman had gone through with the loss of both her husband and son.

Chikage said nothing, but the strength of her hug conveyed to Conan what words could not. At length she released him and gazed at him with red rimmed eyes. A hand reached up to brush his cheek, and she said with a wobbly smile, "Welcome home."

Conan smiled just as shakily back and murmured, "I'm home."

* * *

Author's Note: Apologies that it's been so long, but I've suddenly been struck by motivation to continue this AU despite my ongoing battle with depression that leaves me completely unmotivated to do anything at all. This did, however, make me realize how much I don't like heist planning… I didn't intend for this to take a nosedive into angstland, but… well, depression… With regards to the heist note, in addition to the yearly zodiac, a day was broken into twelve "hour" divisions according to the different animals, and the hour of the pig was from 9 PM to 11 PM. In Sinospherical—countries and regions in East Asia that were historically influenced by Chinese culture—folklore, the pareidolic image on the moon resembled a rabbit working with a mortar and pestle, opposed to the Western image of the man in the moon. Depending on the country, the rabbit pounds different things in the mortar, and in Japan, the rabbit prepares ingredients for mochi, or sticky rice cake. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to poke me on Twitter at taliya_writes.

* * *

Completed: 16.05.2019


	2. Adventure: Discovery

_Detective __Conan_ and _Magic Kaito_ characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

* * *

Return Triumphant

By Taliya

* * *

Adventure: Discovery

* * *

Summary: Haibara Ai figures out the newest Kaitou KID's identity—and she is not amused.

* * *

Chapter-specific warnings: Character death references, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, language

* * *

Kaitou KID landed softly on the roof of a large home in Beika, disengaging his glider as he did so. The heist had been in nearby Beika Museum, and he had only wanted to take a breather to change into normal street clothing before he made his way back to Ekoda. He sighed, rolling his shoulders as he disengaged the hydraulics keeping the glider's frame rigid.

The Sukhothai Ruby was a large red gemstone that was the centerpiece of an intricate gold necklace that had been commissioned by the Siamese Phra Ruang Dynasty's King Si Inthrathit for his wife, Queen Sueang. KID had swiped it with ease despite the best efforts of Division Two, and as of now the heavy weight of the gold and gems rested safely within the inner breast pocket of his coat.

The phantom thief hopped down from the roof onto a tree branch and monkeyed his way deeper into the cover the leaves provided. Kaitou KID had been the one to leap into the tree branches, but it was Edogawa Conan who dropped down to the ground.

With an air of carefully affected nonchalance, the teenaged detective exited from the property he had landed in, casually swinging the exterior gate shut and strolling off into the darkness of the street. Along the way to the train stationed, he received a call on his Shounen Tantei-dan badge. It was Tsubaraya Mitsuhiko, and he had wanted to ask Conan if he had attended the KID heist that evening.

"Nah, I didn't go," Conan answered, his free hand stuffed in a pocket as he walked and enjoyed the cool night air. A half lie: he had indeed not gone—as _himself_. "I had ninjutsu practice tonight—" technically speaking, that is, "—and a lot of homework I still haven't finished yet."

The other boy sighed. _"You haven't been to any since he reappeared even though we've all made an effort to go."_

The bespectacled boy winced, even though he knew that his friend had not meant to be accusatory with his words. "I know… but I really _have_ been busy…"

_"Conan, we should catch up some time,"_ Yoshida Ayumi said, butting into the conversation. Over the years, the members of the Shounen Tantei-dan had become comfortable enough with each other to drop the suffixes attached to their names.

_"Yeah, Conan,"_ Kojima Genta echoed as he joined in, _"We don't see you often."_

Conan chuckled. "Well, I _do_ live on the other side of Tokyo now…"

_"So let's meet up this weekend!"_

_"Yeah! Let's meet up on Saturday!"_

_"Where should we meet then?"_ came the sedate, ever-steady voice of Haibara Ai.

"Poirot?" Conan suggested as he passed by the street that, just a few storefronts down, was the home of Café Poirot on the ground floor, the Mouri Detective Agency on the second, and the Mouri residence on the third. He paused for a moment, taking in the familiar sight of what had been his home for four rather eventful—and memorable—years of his life. "It'd be nice to visit Beika again."

It was bittersweet for him, seeing the place. It brought to mind four years of countless moments of adventure, fear, exasperation, comfort, and fondness. Four years of joy and triumph, sorrow and heartbreak. The street held memories that Conan would never forget, even if he wanted to. A soft sigh escaped him, and Conan unexpectedly felt his chest tighten with emotion as he stared, surrounded by nothing but the light-polluted sky, the sleeping buildings, and the distant roar of traffic.

The buildings all along the street were dark—as they should be at near midnight. The third-floor apartment, Conan knew, now housed an aging Mouri Kogoro, alone. Ran had long since left the place, first for university, and then for her job as a budding criminal defense lawyer—just like her mother, Kisaki Eri. While she still visited her father often, Conan could not help but wonder how Kogoro was getting along without Ran to constantly look after him.

_"—an! Conan!"_

The magician thief snapped out of his melancholy torpor at Ayumi's insistent repetition of his name. "Huh?"

_"I _said_,"_ Ayumi huffed, _"We should invite Kaori, Kousei, and Shinichi, too."_

Miyazono Kaori, Arima Kousei, and Izumi Shinichi were classmates of Conan's at Ekoda High School. The three had become friends with Conan soon after he had moved to Ekoda. Kaori was a blonde-haired, free-spirited girl with an independent, supportive spirit and absolutely adored playing the violin. Kousei was a calm and introspective black-haired boy who oftentimes lost himself in thought whenever he was not playing the piano. The two of them were an item and had been dating since middle school—though how they got along with their diametric personalities was beyond Conan's understanding. Shinichi was a thoughtful, quiet chocolate-haired youth who was even-tempered, mature beyond his age, and considerate of everyone around him.

Conan had initially resented Shinichi quite a bit just for his given name alone, though he _knew_ that his umbrage stemmed from an absurdly petty reason. But it had hurt to hear his name being called and to not respond, to know that it was not _him_ that was being addressed. Still, he had done his best to be polite to the other boy, and the somewhat-of-a-loner Shinichi had eventually become one of his friends.

"I'll be sure to ask if they are available," Conan drawled, forcing himself to move past the Mouri home and towards a livelier Beika Station. "I'm going to shower and go to sleep." He decidedly did _not_ want to answer questions regarding where he was in the middle of the night based on the sounds of his surroundings. "Talk to you all later, okay?"

A chorus of agreements and goodbyes followed, and Conan made the rest of the trip to the train station with only his thoughts for company. There were few people on the train; the phantom thief lightly dozed until his stop was announced. He hopped off the vehicle and made his way back home.

A dim glow lit one of the front windows of the Kuroba home, and Conan instantly knew that Chikage was still awake. The woman had a penchant for combining candlelight and tea at odd hours of the night, and he absently wondered if it was a trait all phantom thieves shared. His late-night riddling with Touichi-KID from his first childhood came to mind, along with all of the heists Kaito-KID had pulled once the sun had dipped below the horizon.

"I'm home," he called softly as he closed the door behind him, doffing his sneakers and slipping his feet into his house slippers.

"Welcome home." The former Phantom Lady was indeed sitting in the living room, a row of decorative tealights lit on the coffee table and a pot of what smelled like chrysanthemum tea on a tray next to the candles. Chikage smiled as Conan shuffled into the room, a multitude of emotions swirling in her observant eyes. "Not what you wanted?"

Conan snorted a laugh and shook his head. "This wasn't the one." He settled into an armchair across from the woman, and she wordlessly offered a cup of tea. He accepted it with murmured thanks, and the two phantom thieves sat in comfortable, contemplative silence as they watched the minute flickers of the otherwise steady teardrops of light.

"I encountered _Them_ tonight," Conan finally said quietly. "Snake still believed me to be Touichi-san."

Chikage huffed. "That man is an utter idiot," he murmured with no small amount of contempt in her voice. Her eyes flickered up to her houseguest. "You aren't injured, are you?"

Conan shook his head. "I have a graze on my arm, but I patched it up right after I lost them. It'll scab over by tomorrow evening."

The Kuroba widow's eyes darkened in displeasure. "If only I could kill them…" she breathed.

"You don't want to kill them," Conan softly refuted, "You're so much better than that."

Chikage sighed. "You're right, I don't _actually_ want to kill them," she confessed after several moments of silence, "But the sentiment remains."

Conan gave her a small but understanding smile. "And it's natural to feel that way, considering what and how much they took from you. But… just don't ever sink to their level." He leaned forwards to set his now empty teacup on the tray. "Would you like me to clean this up?"

"No," she replied, eyes softening as she smiled at him. "I'll clean up. Why don't you shower and go to bed?" She quirked a mischievous eyebrow. "You still have school tomorrow—or rather, today, after all."

A surprised chuckle escaped him. "Don't remind me," he grumbled good-naturedly. With a respectful nod, he excused himself and bid his landlady a good evening. After stowing away Kaitou KID's outfit and gear and a quick shower later, Conan tumbled into bed. He was asleep the moment his head touched his pillow.

* * *

Late Saturday morning found one part-time phantom thief and part-time-detective on the way to Beika with three friends in tow. The quartet was walking towards Café Poirot, animatedly discussing their plans for the coming summer break.

"—part-time job to help around the house," Shinichi was saying. "I mean, I don't want to be too much of a burden on my parents."

"I'd say you're the most responsible out of all of us," Kaori remarked with a laugh. She eyed Conan, then amended, "Well, it's really a toss-up between you and Conan."

"Oi!" Conan protest, mock-offended as he absently flipped a five-hundred-yen coin through his fingers. "Are you implying I'm _old_?"

"She can get away with saying that because she's still a child despite her looks," Kousei drawled, then flinched as his girlfriend smacked his shoulder none too gently. He gave her a wounded look and griped, "What? It's true."

Kaori pouted. "Just because I am like that doesn't mean you get to tell everyone!"

"We already knew," Shinichi chuckled. "It's not a state secret or anything, and even if it was, it was not well kept in the least."

The foursome made it to Poirot without any problems—or bodies, and Conan internally sighed with relief. Unlike the original trio he had befriended in elementary, this newer trio did not react well to happening upon corpses. Kousei and Kaori were musicians at heart, and Shinichi was a casual gamer in his downtime. They had no interest in trying to suss out and chase down culprits.

The door jingled merrily as they entered the café, and Enomoto Azusa greeted them with a smile. "Welcome! Please sit wherever you li—Conan-kun, what a surprise! I haven't seen you in a while!"

Conan smiled and nodded his head at the long-time waitress. "Azusa-san, it's been a while."

"Indeed it has! How have you been?" she asked as she followed the four high school students to a table of their choosing.

"Really busy," the detective replied truthfully. His friends from Ekoda knew that aside from homework, he practiced martial arts and played soccer with the school's team in his spare time, and even somehow managed to squeeze in solving murders with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. What they did not know was that he moonlighted as a magician-phantom thief on top of all that. It was a wonder that he even had time for friends with all of that on his plate.

His friends laughed, agreeing with him wholeheartedly. They were interrupted from their gleeful elaboration of Conan's seemingly impossible schedule by the arrival of the other half of their group.

"Conan!" chorused Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta as they entered the restaurant. Ayumi tackled Conan in a hug, and the boys traded hearty shoulder slaps in lieu of hugs as they exchanged salutations.

"Edogawa-kun," Ai greeted as she approached at a much more sedate pace than her companions.

"Haibara," he answered in reply. Unlike everyone else, the two shrunken adults retained an air of reserve around each other. Neither could forget their true ages, nor could they forget what they had both gone through. There was deep mutual respect for the other, along with gratitude for what the other had done, sympathy for what the other had lost, and a familial sort of love bred through shared hardships.

"It's good to see you again," the strawberry blond said, a faint smile curving her lips as she looked him over to ascertain his health before it flattened and thinned in veiled displeasure. She stepped up and hugged him, muttering sotto voce into his ear, "I need to speak to you privately at some point."

"Okay," Conan answered back just as quietly as he hugged her back, then stepped back and said in a normal voice, "Same."

"Please sit," Azusa said, and the group of eight picked a large table—Shinichi, Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ai sat on individual chairs, while Kaori, Kousei, Conan, and Ayumi piled onto the bench. Ayumi still harbored a crush on Conan, much to his discomfort, as he still viewed himself as ten years older than her despite his physical age of sixteen. As it was, he subtly tried to scoot a little further away to add some distance between the two of them. The brunette had a tendency to sit as close as possible to him without actual contact whenever she could.

The group caught up with each other as they ordered their food. The Shounen Tantei-dan described their non-murder encounters with helping the police with Ai tossing in comments here and there. Their frequency in dealing with murders had dropped to practically zero once Conan had left, and Genta loudly complained about the lack of exciting cases they could have solved.

Shinichi talked a little about the latest video game he was playing, as well as his progress on coding and graphic design in an effort to eventually design his own video game. Kousei and Kaori discussed their upcoming concerts and competitions—the two of them would be performing as accompanists to the renowned opera singer Akiba Reiko in Domoto Hall.

As for Conan—he did not go into too much detail with his murder cases, but instead chose to talk about the soccer games he played. If asked, he would touch upon whatever he happened to be working on in ninjutsu, but he never once breathed a word about his one other major activity: that being the fact that he was the elusive Kaitou KID, and the third one at that.

Conan was mulling over his mental list of gems to check when he was nudged on the side by Ayumi. "Conan?"

"Yes?" he replied, blinking quizzically.

"You up for a trip to Tropical Land?" Genta asked. Conan froze. "We haven't gone in a while."

"We're also finally tall enough to ride Mystery Coaster too!" Kaori cheered, and the table descended into excited babbling about what activities everyone wanted to do while they were there.

_Mystery Coaster—beheading—Gin—Ran—roller coaster—Vodka—apoptoxin—shrinking—pain—heat—agony—_

"-nan?" Ayumi had grasped his shoulder and had a hand pressed against his forehead. "You went pale all of a sudden, and you're sweating despite not having a fever," she said with worry clear in her tone.

Conan shook her off as gently as he could in his still panicked state. "S-sorry," he stuttered, standing up and uncaring of the amount as he tossed more than enough cash to cover his meal. "I need to go."

He ignored his friends' concern and left the café hurriedly, no destination in mind except for the need to be alone before his panic attack escalated. His feet led him into nearby Beika Park, and Conan ensconced himself at the base of a weeping willow tree, the hanging branches and leaves providing a natural privacy curtain.

Conan pressed his hands over his nose and mouth, trying to regulate the amount of oxygen he was taking in. While the shrunken detective had been to Tropical Land twice more since his poisoning, for whatever reason there had never been a mention of the Mystery Coaster until today—

—which was apparently a trigger for him.

Just like snowy car accidents and shrapnel wounds. But those were triggers that he could somewhat ignore and brute force power through because there was usually someone's life in danger, and life always took precedence over his anxiety. But there had been no life-threatening incident, and he had not known he would react in such a way.

Squeezing his eyes shut in frustration, Conan kept a slow, if stuttering breathing pattern. _Fuck,_ he thought, and he felt the hot wake of tears slide down his cheeks. _Why am I always too late to prevent a death?_

Under the willow tree, Edogawa Conan quietly cried and dealt with his panic attack. It was hours before he made his way back to his home in Ekoda.

* * *

Wednesday evening found Conan just returned from soccer practice. A revitalizing and refreshing shower later, the detective had just sat down at his desk to begin the day's homework when Chikage called to him from the base of the stairs.

"Conan-kun! You have a visitor!"

Wracking his brain for any reason he would have a visitor, Conan trotted down the stairs, freezing when he spotted the distinctive strawberry blond curls of Haibara Ai. "Ha—Haibara!" he exclaimed as he finished his trip to the ground floor.

Ai regarded him solemnly. "Edogawa-kun," she greeted. "Would you mind if we talked? Privately?"

"Uh, sure," he replied, glancing at his landlady.

Chikage smiled before slipping into the kitchen. "Do whatever you need to do, Conan."

Conan led his longtime friend up the stairs to his room. He followed after her, closing the door behind him. Ai had chosen to sit at his desk, slowly spinning in the swivel chair. The detective sat on the edge of his bed and regarded the scientist. "What's up, Haibara?"

Ai was silent as she eyed him for several long moments before she asked with a mix of emotion in her voice, "What are you doing, Kudou-kun?"

He tilted his head quizzically in response. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you playing dress up as Kaitou KID?" she asked pointedly, her eyes sharp. "I didn't realize you had such kleptomaniac tendencies."

He tensed. There was fleeting moment where Conan was tempted to deny her accusation, but he knew it was a lost cause. Instead he sighed, ruffled his bangs in self-directed irritation, and answered with a hesitant question of his own. "What gave me away?"

Ai folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back into the chair. "Nothing that the police could use to pin you," she said, and he immediately relaxed a bit. That she had been able to figure out who the newest phantom thief was had both scared and surprised him. "It's only because I know you," she continued. "And I cannot think of anyone more noble and idiotic than you to pick up the cape and monocle."

"Oi!" Conan interjected, mildly offended.

The strawberry blonde gave him a very flat look. "Was there a reason that you picked up ninjutsu after you moved here aside from additional health benefits? I can't imagine you falling in love with ninja movies enough to want to train like them."

He grimaced. She had a point.

"Not only that, your fidgeting has changed. While you still use a soccer ball to think through problems, you now also flip coins, cards, pens—anything relatively small—through your fingers with a dexterity you did not used to have." Ai leaned back into the chair, a tired expression crossing her face. "Is there something behind being Kaitou KID, or did you just suddenly decide to pick up grand larceny as another hobby of yours?"

"There's—a reason, Haibara—a _good_ reason," he said as he deliberated on his options. To admit would be to not only expose himself as KID, but Chikage and potentially Jii as accomplices. On the other hand, this was _Haibara_—someone who knew how high the stakes could be with the kind of secrets she had kept. And she had been nothing but a solid support and wonderful sounding board during the time he had been trying to take down the Organization. He trusted her back then, and he still trusted her now.

"I chose to become Kaitou KID not because I thought it would be fun, but because there is another entity like the Organization out there." Ai blanched at the information. "KID was created as a means of drawing them out."

"You're crazy, Kudou-kun," she gasped. "You've already taken down one syndicate! Why are you going after another while being a criminal yourself?!" The detective could clearly read the terror in her eyes: _Why are you so determined to put yourself in danger?_

Conan's smile was full of melancholy and regret as he gazed at his clasped fingers in his lap. "Because it was the dying wish of the last Kaitou KID," he uttered softly, and his chest ached at the memory of Kuroba Kaito expiring in his arms, head lolling on his lap as he and the Mouris had raced on a snowy mountain road towards a hospital. "Two good men had dedicated their lives trying to take this Syndicate down." The image of a smiling Kuroba Touchi drifted across his mind's eye, the memory from one of the few times his mother, Kudou Yukiko, had taken him with her to her disguise lessons. His eyes caught Ai's, and he said with a hard promise in his voice, "I'm going to ensure that they did not die in vain."

Ai stared at him for a long stretch of time, various emotions crossing both her expression and her eyes. At length she bowed her head as an exasperated, tired chuckle escaped her. "You wouldn't be you if you let a situation like this pass you by."

And Conan instantly knew she had reconciled his decision with her fears. He reached out to grasp her hands in his. "Haibara," he said, catching her gaze with his. "I owe him this. And it's the right thing to do—if you can ignore the grand larceny… and the property damage… and impersonating various police officers… and—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," she interrupted, and gave him a weak grin. "Promise me you won't die?" she asked.

Conan chuckled as he grinned softly back. "Yeah, I promise." Ai had not asked that he be safe—she knew as well as he did the risks accepted when dealing with any power-hungry underground organization. "Besides, I'm the uncatchable Kaitou KID!" he added, upping the wattage of his grin to near-manic levels. "They won't—ow! Haibara!"

Ai quirked an eyebrow at Conan's pout as he rubbed the shoulder she had smacked. "If you are the new Kaitou KID, then the infamous phantom thief is doomed," she gravely intoned before cracking a grin at her friend's indignant squawk of outrage.

* * *

Author's Note: This idea had been bouncing around in my head for a while, though it was a bit difficult to get it out and onto paper. I will not apologize for writing Conan with some PTSD and the associated anxiety. For him to go through something as traumatic as poisoning and shrinking, I cannot imagine him _not_ having some sort of mental and emotional scarring, even if it is never addressed in canon. Miyazono Kaori and Arima Kousei are the main characters in _Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso_, and Izumi Shinichi is the main human character from _Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu_. Akiba Reiko is a soprano singer from Movie 12: _Senritsu no Furu Sukoa_. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to poke me on Twitter at taliya_writes.

* * *

Completed: 10.06.2019


	3. Heist: Priorities

_Detective Conan_ and _Magic Kaito_ characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

* * *

Return Triumphant

By Taliya

* * *

Heist: Priorities

* * *

Summary: A murder occurs during Kaitou KID's heist—and with the KID Killer in attendance, what is a poor phantom thief detective to do?

* * *

Chapter-specific warnings: Mild language

* * *

The pre-heist festivities were coming along nicely. The setting was another airship—though this time _not_ courtesy of the Suzukis—but it was very much another event hosted by another wealthy business magnate that meant to gain fame and notoriety. The theme for the event was "An Evening Under the Stars"—and the location definitely fit the bill. The ballroom on the airship had a ceiling of glass, and as high as they were above Tokyo, the light pollution was not as bad as it was on the ground. The only caveat to the whole "under the stars" them was the fact that the ballroom was lit with interior lights mounted both along the walls and on the struts that supported the glass ceiling.

Conan wondered if the man hosting the affair knew that he had unknowingly directly invited Kaitou KID. While a challenge had been broadcast to the thief and had been aired on television, Edogawa Conan had been invited to serve as the guest of honor—as the infamous "KID Killer"—though his presence at the thief's heists had waned dramatically once he had turned sixteen. His not-adoptive parents, Kudou Yuusaku and Yukiko, were also in attendance for the gala, along with a multitude of Japan's social elite. Suzuki Jirokichi was here, as was his niece, Sonoko. She was likely gushing over the magician thief to an exasperated Mouri Ran.

Seeing Ran now no longer felt like a stab to the heart for Conan, though there would always be a bittersweet ache of missed opportunities in his chest. Now twenty-seven, Ran was engaged to an architect she had met while studying in law school. Aizawa Hiiro was a gentle, soft-spoken man who treated Ran like the amazing woman she was.

Conan had been one of the first people she had introduced him to, after her parents and possibly also after Sonoko. It relieved him and gave him peace of mind, knowing that she was going to be well-taken care of. It was more than he could have ever done; Conan knew himself well enough that he would have accidentally neglected his significant other for his cases. Ran did not deserve that sort of treatment—especially not after what he had put her through before he had convinced her that Kudou Shinichi was not coming back and to move on.

Conan sipped his glass of grape juice as he eyed the crowd. Interspersed with the partygoers were members of the Kaitou KID Task Force. While they were not decked in their usual riot gear, they all were easy to pick out due to their earpieces and constantly roving gazes. He glanced at his wristwatch. It was a modification of the Stun Gun Watch he had used when he had been six a second time, though instead of looking oddly bulky on his child's wrist, it now sported a sleeker look that fit on his adolescent body.

He still had twenty minutes until KID was slated to appear. Already he had had his cheeks pinched by his "Yukiko-nee-chan" multiple times over while his father had merely chuckled and ruffled his hair just the once. Learning how to interact with his no-longer-but-still-his parents had been an interesting thing they had worked out over the years. In private, they still retained their usual tones of sass and wordplay; in public they had needed to tone down the closeness that they shared into something more stilted and formal—though that had started to go away once his parents had made his "parents" die.

Being adopted by the Kudous had been something of a laugh between the three of them. It meant that Yukiko no longer had to dress up as Edogawa Fumiyo for any official requirements Conan needed, and it also meant that they could regain some of their easy give and take in the public eye. Gossip rags claimed that the Kudous had adopted Conan as a means to try to fill in the gap losing their son Shinichi had left behind, and to be fair, they were not far off the mark while still being so _very_ far off the mark.

"You ready, Co-chan?" the retired actress murmured as she sidled up to him with a flute of champagne. It had taken literal _years_ to get her to not slip up and call him "Shin-chan" anymore. The thought still ached in his chest if he ruminated too much on it.

"I am," he replied with a steady voice and anticipation singing in his veins. The years training under the watchful eyes of Kuroba Chikage and Konosuke Jii had done wonders for his confidence regarding his abilities as the Moonlight Magician. Conan knew the ins and outs of magic like the back of his hand, and many of the simpler tricks he knew were now as easy as breathing. The two adults had been instrumental in getting Kaitou KID back into the spotlight, and Conan only hoped he could repay them by finding and exposing the men who had killed his first predecessor and had relentlessly hunted his second.

Conan spent the rest of his time until the five-minute warning with his mother. His father was likely floating around somewhere in the crowd, no doubt eager to see Conan's show and dismantle every trick piece by piece, as the man had no idea what KID had planned. Though to be fair, he also had no idea his wife was in on and a crucial part of the phantom thief's plans. The young magician slipped away with a minute to spare, getting himself in position for his debut for the heist.

"Copy?" he murmured.

_"Copy,"_ Yukiko said.

_"Copy,"_ Yuusaku answered.

Grinning Conan replied, "Let's get this show on the road then."

"Three!" the Task Force shouted, the officers' eyes darting about for any sign of the thief.

"Two!" Sonoko trilled, eagerness in her tone as she too looked around for any sign of her beloved KID.

"One!" Nakamori barked, mustache bristling as he stared hard at the heist target, a thirty-carat yellow diamond called the Evening Sun.

The lights on the ship blacked out—as planned.

The startled scream that erupted during the blackout—was not. It was quickly followed by an entirely too familiar _thump_.

Kaitou KID appeared in a flash of light, a bang of sound, and a puff of smoke atop a swan-shaped ice statue. But instead of greeting his audience cheerfully with his usual, "Ladies and gentlemen!", he was instead frowning silently with arms crossed over his chest. Although the switch to shut off the main lights in the ballroom and surrounding hallways in order to both enable his trick and facilitate his escape was in his hand, he hesitated to activate it.

_"Shin-chan?"_ came Yukiko's voice in his ear a moment after he failed to cut the lights, her worry more than enough to override her training to call him by his new, permanent alias.

The uncharacteristic behavior made the Division Two officers pause in their knee-jerk instinct to dogpile the magician, and some sent uneasy glances at each other. Others had instead turned their attention towards determining the source of the scream. A beautifully dressed woman shrieked a touch hysterically, pointing to a space next to her as she stumbled away from the indicated area. The crowd cleared out around her like grease on the water's surface being repelled by a drop of soap, and it soon became apparent that there was indeed a body on the floor.

The man was older, with a head of silver hair and a matching, bristling mustache. Dressed in a tux, it was clear by the cut and fabric that he came from old money. Lying on the ground, his half-open eyes stared blankly up at the skylights. A glass of spilled red wine lay not far from an outstretched hand.

"Officers, block the exits! No one leaves this room!" KID commanded with a sweeping gesture of his arm, visible eye searching the crowd from his higher vantage point. He did not want anyone hiding out in the restrooms.

"Block the exits!" the inspector repeated loudly, and the Task Force efficiently barricaded the doorways.

KID's expression hardened as he cast his gaze across the restless gathering. Proceeding with the heist now would increase the chances that the killer might escape. KID clenched his jaw as he made his decision. "Nakamori-keibu," he intoned seriously, "I will postpone this heist. Please find the culprit."

"Oh no you don't," the man barked, eyes flashing, "You are _not _leaving here except in cuffs." The phantom thief watched, somewhat stunned, as the inspector's expression somehow _broke _as he said, "You'll need to be detained here as a potential perpetrator."

It became abundantly clear to KID that Nakamori clearly did not believe that the magician could have done such a thing, but he was required to restrain every possible culprit.

It was also equally clear that Nakamori did not expect to be able to hold him long enough to clear his name.

That… was quite the conundrum for the inspector, and yet it made something in KID's chest warm at the sheer amount of faith Nakamori had in his innocence in this regard.

However, because he had planned to have a confrontation between himself and… _himself_, he was internally rather relieved to see that Yukiko had disappeared from the crowd. Yuusaku was currently squeezing his way through the crush of bodies that surrounded the possible corpse.

There would, however, need to be a very spontaneous and severe change in plans. Potentially. Maybe.

He seriously hoped not.

"Keibu," he said, and though his voice was quiet, it caught the attention of everyone present. "If this is indeed a murder case—if you can promise that you will clear my name, I will promise to stay in your custody for the duration of the investigation."

Gasps filled the ballroom at his pronouncement. It was an incredibly risky gamble, doing this—but this was probably his one and only chance to give Edogawa Conan definitive proof that he was _not_ Kaitou KID—

—which, of course, was a total _lie_.

But there had been speculation floating about regarding the detective's disappearance at the phantom thief's heists as of late, and one such rumor had been that Edogawa Conan masqueraded as none other than Kaitou KID himself. While Chikage and Jii were there to help with his alibis, naysayers online had wanted hard evidence.

_This_ would be his reply to anyone who doubted that Edogawa Conan was Kaitou KID. All he had to do was ensure that no one noticed the absence of Kudou Yukiko for as long as the magician thief was present. It would be up to the three of them—him, his mother, and his father—working together to maintain the deception.

"KID… You… you're sure?" Nakamori asked, uncharacteristically hesitant.

The phantom thief nodded. "If it will help find the culprit faster, I will cooperate. Isn't that so, _Tantei-kun_?" he asked, his gaze darting towards a serious-faced Edogawa Conan.

The detective nodded as he squeezed himself out of the circle of people and into open space. "I thank you in advance for your cooperation, KID," Conan murmured as he stared at the body.

"You'll need to approach and get close the body. Check for a pulse via the wrist," he muttered, barely moving his lips and quietly enough to not be noticed by the surrounding crowd. Glancing at the Division Two inspector for permission and receiving at nod, KID approached the detective, who was now squatting next to the corpse. "Will you be okay, Kaa-san?" he murmured.

_"I think so," _Conan answered, equally quietly from the earpiece,_ "as long as I can fake myself out into believing it's a very realistic prop and not an actual corpse. Yuu-chan can help direct me too, though he won't be able to reply to us since he does not know ventriloquism."_ Aloud, Conan said, "He's dead," and shook his head dejectedly as he released the man's wrist.

"Damn it," KID quietly cursed, and his shoulders slumped the slightest bit.

The two of them glanced up to see the mystery author standing at the edge of the circle of people, his eyes warm and reassuring as he gazed at the two of them. "Allow me to help as well," he spoke aloud, striding into the cleared space. He flashed Nakamori a small smile. "I used to help Megure with his homicide cases every now and then. Rest assured, Nakamori-keibu, between Conan-kun and myself, we'll catch the culprit."

Nakamori sighed and rubbed his neck somewhat helplessly. "Kudou-shi, Between you and Conan-kun, I have a hunch that you'll figure out who it is before I will. Murders are outside of my official jurisdiction." He waved his hand at them and said, "Do what you do best," even as he approached KID and tugged him away from the body with a look of pure disbelief on his face at being able to _actually touch Kaitou KID._

KID allowed himself to be led off to the side, confident that not only would Yuusaku would find the murderer, he could help Yukiko through ventriloquism so that observers would never know that he was giving the disguised woman hints. He huffed in amusement at the hand that tightly grasped his forearm. "Keibu," he softly admonished as he gently eased the man's grip off his arm, "I already promised I wasn't going anywhere. There's no need to bruise me when we're not in the midst of a chase."

The inspector practically flung himself off the magician, as though he had been burnt. "Sorry, sorry," he babbled, clearly thrown by the phantom thief's abnormally docile behavior.

"It's fine," he acknowledged with an understanding grin. "I want the culprit found just as much as you do, which is the only reason I'm willing to stand here with you."

Yuusaku, meanwhile had approached the woman who had screamed and pointed out the victim. "Madam," he greeted, "Would you happen to know the name of the gentleman on the floor?"

The woman he had addressed was an older woman in somewhere past her fifties; silvered hair paired with a surprisingly young face—KID was fairly sure she had received cosmetic botulinum toxin injections to smooth out her wrinkles—was smeared with makeup from her impromptu weeping. Her clothing and accessories proved that she was monied, what with the sapphire and diamond statement necklace and matching earrings.

"H—He," she stuttered as she blotted her face with a lace handkerchief, "He was my brother-in-law."

"And his wife is your younger sister?" Conan asked, glancing up from his inspection of the knife.

The woman nodded. "Yes. She's here, along with his two younger brothers."

Yuusaku hummed. "Might I ask your name, along with everyone you mentioned?"

"Yutarou Himari. His—" she pointed to the body, "—name was Takashi Hiroto. My sister's name is Takashi Akari, and his brothers' names are Takashi Minato and Takashi Riku."

_Takashi Hiroto, eldest son and head of the Mitsuro conglomerate. Owns fortunes enough to be murdered for it—with potentially two jealous younger brothers and a covetous wife. Not sure how Yutarou Himari figures in cashing in on his death just yet._ KID frowned slightly in thought. "Can you ask get the family members out of the crowd? Also ask if there are any friends and associates present that would benefit from his death," he murmured without ever once moving his lips.

Takashi Akari, Takashi Minato, and Takashi Riku shuffled into view, along with Yamada Junyo, the victim's best friend and second in command. _This is going to be a complicated case without even taking into consideration that I'm having to work by proxy—though with Tou-san here, I think we'll be able to solve it before the night is out._

The mystery author began by asking everyone their names and what their relationship to the victim was. As he went through questioning, KID instructed Conan to take a waft of the victim's mouth. _"You want me to _what_?!"_ the detective quietly yelped, darting incredulous eyes at the phantom thief, who was standing off to the side next to the inspector.

"You need to see if the man's breath smells like almonds," the magician explained as he used the magnification ability of his monocle to get a more detailed look at the body from a distance. He ignored the somewhat puzzled stare from Nakamori that the action garnered. "If it does, it means he ingested cyanide."

"Not cyanide," Conan said, furrowing his brow after reporting his finding aloud, "Though it smells chemically sweet."

"Chemically sweet?" Yuusaku, along with KID, frowned as well, having caught the younger detective's announcement.

_Not cyanide, but definitely poison of some sort,_ KID thought as he whispered instructions to Conan, asking him to not only take pictures with his phone, but to also check for any abnormal injuries, stains, tears, or anything that caught his eye. And also to remember to not touch anything directly.

Conan's adoptive father was also squatted down next to the body, doing his own inspection and taking his own pictures. The gathered suspects were unobtrusively corralled by members of the Task Force, silently watching the two unofficial detectives work. "Did any of you dislike the victim?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue.

While each person vehemently denied any dislike, infighting soon had them pointing fingers at each other with reasons as to why each of them would want the eldest Takashi dead. The surviving Takashi brothers and Yamada would be able to take over as head of the agglomeration of corporations. The wife would inherit the man's fortune. And as for Yutarou…

"He cheated on me with my sister," the socialite simply said. "We don't talk." Indeed, the two female siblings stood as far apart as possible given the space provided by the Division Two officers.

"Ask what they had for dinner before arriving. I see tiny yellow spots on the front of his shirt," KID muttered. It was revealed that that the five of them had eaten dinner together in Hiroto and Akari's home right before coming—though why they had agreed to a meal together was anyone's guess. Curry had been on the menu, hence the almost fluorescent yellow spotting on the man's shirt. Hiroto, having spent a large portion of his schooling in America, had always favored drinking American-style sweet tea over traditional hot teas. Riku said they had gathered around six in the evening for the meal. It was now just past ten o'clock.

_Ingested poison that takes hours to work, and smells and tastes sweet?_ KID pondered._ The only thing I can think of is ethylene glycol, which is a common component of antifreeze. If the ethylene glycol had been substituted for sugar, it would be enough to kill a person. Actually, I remember reading about an antifreeze poisoning incident in America that involved doctors…_

"And has he had anything other than wine upon boarding the airship?" Yuusaku asked of the recently widowed woman. Akari shook her head. "He's had nothing but glasses of red wine."

"No water?" the author pressed.

The magician narrowed his eyes in thought. "Tou-san, you think the evidence will reveal itself with black light?" Yuusaku gave KID a subtle nod of agreement before darting his eyes momentarily towards Conan. "Kaa-san, could you ask?"

"Matsueda-san, would you happen to know if there are black lights installed anywhere on this ship?" the detective asked. His question was met with polite befuddlement from the host of the party and owner of the airship.

Kaitou KID grinned widely. "I do believe I can help with that," he proclaimed grandiosely. Holding an arm out before him, he counted down, "Three, two, one!" He snapped his fingers theatrically, simultaneously flipping the switch to cut the lights. All of the lights within the ballroom went out—but in addition to that, KID had wired the remaining energy to light up the network of black lights he had installed along the ceiling's support struts.

Despite the sudden darkness, the floor and walls lit up in a gorgeous array of white paint spots from the invisible glow paint he had previously splattered. The effect was akin to standing amongst the stars, and a collective gasp erupted from all of the partygoers. Aside from glowing bluish teeth and a number of azure-glowing diamonds, guests who had tonic water in their drinks held glowing blue glasses.

KID, Conan, and Yuusaku, however, were not focused on the admittedly stunning visual effect of the magician thief's trick. Rather, they were staring at the bright yellow-green tips of Hiroto's mustache, just above his lips.

"Neither curry, tea, or wine light up under UV lighting," KID muttered, and Conan repeated the factoid out loud.

"Which means there was something added to his drink from dinner, since he has allegedly had nothing but wine since he arrived here," the mystery author added, and turned his gaze on the cluster of suspects.

"That fact is of particular importance since the additive is highly water soluble," Conan said, repeated the words whispered into his ear by the phantom thief, "and since he did not drink any water upon arrival, the evidence therefore remained in his mustache."

A streak of identical yellow-green colored the hair of the culprit, and Conan stood, keeping an eye on the swath as the emergency lighting in the room turned on and dimly illuminated the space. "The murderer can only be you," he said, pointing a finger, "Takada Akari!"

The victim's wife sputtered. "What? Why would I kill Hiroto when I married the man?"

"It doesn't explain the color in your hair that we can all see under black lighting," Conan refuted, and KID internally smiled at the acting happening without his prompting.

"Care to explain why you felt the need to dose Takashi-san's food with antifreeze?" Yuusaku asked.

KID kept part of his brain focused on listening to Akari's excuse—"He cheated on me with a much younger woman and got her pregnant!"—while the larger portion was dedicated to determining the best method of escaping. Grabbing the Evening Sun at this juncture was not only out of the question in terms of practicality, it was also bad sportsmanship. Kaitou KID would not take advantage of a death to steal a gem. "Get ready for a quick change," he whispered, knowing that the retired actress would understand.

While the Task Force was preoccupied with securing Takashi Akari and contacting Division One in an effort to follow protocols and preserve evidence, KID casually approached the younger of the two detectives. "As I am grateful that the culprit has been caught, it is time for me to bid you all farewell," he said as he pulled his card gun out and aimed it upwards. "Until next time!" he sang, and shot a line of rope up into the glass ceiling. Glass shattered downwards, and a swirl of wind swept through the ballroom.

As Nakamori roared at his men to apprehend the thief, KID dropped a smoke bomb and doused the immediate area in a thick haze. Attaching his cape to the gun, the white cloth was reeled upwards in a flutter that caught the eyes of everyone in the room. The black light was quite helpful in that regard. Despite the rapid dispersal of the smoke, KID managed to quick-change back into his party-goer attire while his mother did the same with her own outfit. It was a tight fit, as he had needed to wait for her to change before he could—she had been wearing his clothing, after all.

They still somehow managed to get changed before the fog completely dispersed, and Yukiko had immediately fled after changing. The lights within the room sputtered back to life once the magician had finished changing, thanks to a flick of the same switch. When the smoke finally cleared, Conan was kneeling on the ground coughing while Yuusaku was reaching out for his wife, who had somehow been shoved off into the back of the crowd.

"KID!" the inspector roared as he glared up at the broken skylight panel. "GET HIM!"

The Task Force scattered through the exits, though Conan was relatively sure there were no exits directly to the roof on the ship. He would have to snag his cape and gun before the airship docked—he eyed the ten or so meters between him and the glass ceiling and activated the computerized lens on his glasses. A quick search revealed that his gun and cape were gone, likely having been whipped off the airship entirely from the strength of the wind outside. While irritating, it was significantly better than having them caught on the glass, only to be later collected as evidence.

Conan sighed and ruffled his hair in agitation. Tonight was supposed to have been a—pun intended—star-studded heist with the bonus of a faceoff between the unattainable Kaitou KID and the indomitable Edogawa Conan. While he did sort-of get his face-to-face time, having a murder occur had put a serious damper on the overall mood of the party. The Task Force had reacted admirably to the situation and had been willing to follow the orders of non-official personnel in order to catch the murderer.

"Co-chan?" The detective glanced over his shoulder to find his mother and father approaching. "Are you all right?"

"I guess," Conan admitted. "I've… mixed feelings about how tonight went."

The mystery author clapped a hand on Conan's shoulder. "I imagine I'd feel the same way," he said. Unspoken were the words, _I'm sorry it didn't go as you had expected._

Conan shook his head. "At least we caught the killer, right?"

The retired actress hugged her not-adopted son. "I'm so proud of you," she murmured as she pressed a kiss into his hair. "_We_ are so proud of you," she corrected, and Yuusaku nodded in silent agreement. Her voice was wobbly with emotion as she asked, "You know that, right?"

The family of three hovered close to each other as the ship began to descend in order to dock. Conan smiled and hugged both of his not-adopted parents as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Yeah," he breathed with a grateful smile on his lips, "I know."

* * *

Author's Note: I hate writing heists and murders by themselves. But together? I nearly wanted to gouge my eyeballs out with a dull, rusty spoon, but though it's done now—thank _fuck_—I practically had a conniption once I realized I would need to write a murder that required KID's skills/tricks in order to discover the culprit, as well as Conan needing a proxy to solve the case. The -shi suffix is used formally for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker but is generally known through publications. Antifreeze is used in automobile engines to keep components from freezing up. It has a sweet taste and smell, fluoresces under ultraviolet light, and ultimately causes brain and nerve damage and kidney failure. The mentioned poisoning occurred in 2013 and involved a boyfriend-girlfriend doctor couple at Houston, Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Some diamonds will fluoresce under ultraviolet light due to impurities. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to poke me on Twitter at taliya_writes.

* * *

Completed: 24.06.2020


	4. Adventure: Sorcery

_Detective Conan_ and _Magic Kaito_ characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

* * *

Return Triumphant

By Taliya

* * *

Adventure: Sorcery

* * *

Summary: Conan had never believed in magic—_real_ magic—until he met Koizumi Akako.

* * *

Chapter-specific warnings: Creepy Akako-style coercion

* * *

The evening was warm, but not overly so. The sun was hovering just above the horizon, painting the sky in hues of gold and rose to the west. People hurried to their destinations, eager to grab something to eat for dinner. It was still rather early for salaried office workers to be heading home.

Sixteen-year-old Edogawa Conan was on the way home after a demanding a demanding ninjutsu class. His tracksuit clung to his sticky skin despite the fact that he had wiped himself down in the bathroom before he had left the dojo. _I wonder Chikage's left for America yet,_ he thought, taking a quick glance at his watch, _her plane was scheduled to depart right about now._

_"You."_

The word was not a question, but rather, a combination demand and command. Conan paused in his walking, first checking to see if there was anyone around before turning to see who had so rudely addressed him.

The street was empty. It was… mildly eerie, considering that at this time of day, there should have been people out on the streets.

She was a gorgeous thing decked in tailored designer clothing, all voluptuous curves and seductive features that fairly beckoned observers to yearn lustfully after her. Long, straight black hair fluttered in a very-much unnatural breeze—particularly since there _was_ no wind that he could perceive. Her crimson-colored eyes bored stonily into his, and his metaphorical hackles rose in response. Even so, Poker Face slammed into place and he gave her a small but charming smile. "May I help you, ojou-san?" he asked politely.

"Well. Aren't you the imposter?" The question was spoken in such a way it ended up being more of a flat statement, and there was a hint of something distinctly hostile in her voice.

It was a fight to not take a step backwards, so uncomfortable was Conan in her presence. Cocking his head to the side in confusion, he replied honestly, "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean."

Her eyes narrowed. "Oh? Are you sure about that?" she purred darkly. She gracefully stalked up to him, and he allowed her to lean upwards so that she stood with her face mere centimeters away from his own. "You are a brave one, I'll give you that, but you are not _him_."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Conan said stiffly, a moue of discomfort marring his otherwise placid expression. "Would you mind elaborating for me?"

Her expression reminded Conan of a feline: sharp, focused, and predatory. "Did you think you were a worthy replacement for him, _Kaitou KID-san_?" she hissed, quiet enough that he had to strain to hear her words.

It took everything he had not to jerk away in surprise. Instead, he took an outwardly calm step back to give himself more space, wary of the woman before him. "Who are you?"

She grinned coyly at him, eyes suddenly smoldering with heat. "Koizumi Akako. Pleased to finally make your acquaintance, _Demon of Light_." She abruptly snickered in amusement that was lost on Conan before adding, "And to think that _you_, of all people, became the Sinner in White."

Times were few and far in between in which Edogawa Conan was completely and hopelessly lost. This encounter added to the mercifully low count. And what was with her addressing him as "demon of light" and "sinner in white"? The former he could make neither heads nor tails of, though the latter he could make an educated guess that she meant KID. Shifting uneasily, he said, "Well, if that is all, I'll be going now—"

His attempt to leave was aborted by a hand hooking him by the crook of his elbow. "Oh no, you don't," she chided, pulling herself flush against his side and—his arm between her breasts.

Conan gulped, a blush rising to his cheeks at the contact.

Koizumi smirked in response. "Come now… a gentleman never leaves a lady hanging now, does he, _Edogawa Conan_?" she cooed.

He silently and viciously cursed his luck.

While he had envisioned Koizumi leading him to some spooky, seemingly haunted mansion, she instead led him to a comfortable, well-lit café that he had been previously unaware of its existence. It was located on one of the smaller side streets of Ekoda where Conan never had any reason to wander down that way, hence his ignorance—ignorance that was now very happily corrected, as they had one of the best lattes he had ever had.

Yet despite the fact that he had an exquisite latte before him, his attention kept getting drawn back to the beautiful woman sitting across the table from him. She sat sedately in her chair, daintily sipping at her cappuccino as she watched him back. A knowing smile curved her red lips, and Conan could not help but feel captivated by the hint of danger her grin presented, desperate to know what secret she dangled before him. He unconsciously licked his own lips.

And then suddenly it was as if a switch he had not known existed had been shut off somewhere in his brain, for the detective blinked several times as he wondered what had come over him. Looking down, he found himself half-standing, half-leaning over the table, apparently desperate to reach and touch those red lips with his own.

"I—I'm sorry," he apologized with an embarrassed flush as he hurriedly reseated himself, "I don't know what came over me."

Koizumi's smirk widened. "I most certainly do," she said coquettishly, leaning elbows on the table and chin on clasped hands. The action emphasized the size of her bust as she asked with a sensuous purr, "Would you like to know how?"

Conan eyed her warily. Instinct told him that she was someone that he should not take lightly, that there was much more to her than what she appeared. "If you wouldn't mind," he allowed.

She chuckled lowly, indulgently. "I cast a spell on you," she said simply, and for a wild moment Conan wondered if he had misheard her. Apparently, Poker Face had not saved him in the least, as she huffed and added, "You heard correctly."

Jii's voice drifted through his mind, words spoken during a discussion one night about the various heists he had assisted Kaito with. _"Magicians like us have a natural enemy: sorcerers. While we perform tricks of illusion, they cast spell of magic—_real_ magic. Be careful if you ever encounter a sorcerer, Conan-sama."_

"You…" he began, carefully swallowing past a suddenly dry mouth, "you're a sorcerer."

Koizumi blinked lazily. "You've always been astoundingly quick on the uptake," she said, and Conan got the eerie feeling that she was referring to him not as he was now, but what he _had once been_.

He squelched the urge to shift uncomfortably in his seat. "You mean since I first began solving cases while living with the Mouris…?" he suggested.

Her sensual grin faded into solemnity as she leveled a piercing stare at him. "No. I mean before that."

Conan's eyes flitted quickly around him, taking in his surroundings, checking for eavesdroppers. As an additional precautionary measure, he slid a hand into his tracksuit jacket pocket to activate the audio jammer he now habitually carried around. It was a habit he had first developed when his hunt for the Black Organization had finally transitioned from stealthy reconnaissance into active planning to infiltrate their base of operations.

After the sting operation that had occurred as a result the task force made up of the combined forces of a total alphabet soup of national intelligence agencies, the following months had been a flurry of emails and phone calls reporting sightings, escapes, captures, and deaths of known Organization agents. Gin had been killed early on, and Conan's warnings that he was one of the most dangerous members had still not been enough to prevent loss of life—the man had ended up with a bullet to the brain following a shootout and the deaths of five of their own task force officers. Vermouth had been the last and most difficult to track, but she had been apprehended in the end.

His becoming Kaitou KID had only heightened the paranoia he had developed from that time, since he was now actively working on the other side of the law and sometimes even faced off against the officers he had once worked alongside with. The act of flicking the device on eased his fears of being overheard, and only then did he respond, hoping to throw the woman off, "You mean when I was in America, before I came here?"

Koizumi shot him a warning, insulted look. "You never grew up in America," she said, quietly, accusingly. "You grew up here, in Tokyo."

It felt as though his blood had iced over in his veins.

The woman continued, all pretenses of coy flirtation gone and in its place a muted sorrow, "In fact, you were a detective—both then _and_ now. And you got involved in _one single heist_ with Kaitou KID before you became what you are now."

Conan's Poker Face was gone, his composure so thoroughly shattered by Koizumi's words. Even so, he struggled to put the pieces back together, to pull together some semblance of poise. "Koizumi-san—"

"Do _not_," she hissed, eyes darkening as she glared at him, "try to lie to me. I _know_ you were once upon a time Kudou Shinichi, just as much as I _know_ that Kuroba Kaito had been the previous Kaitou KID and you are the current one."

He did not need a camera to know that stark horror was painted across his face at the pointedly casual reveal of his identity—of his multiple identities. "H—How…?" he stuttered, wide eyes staring at the woman across from him. Conan had faced off against a number of extremely dangerous individuals, and Koizumi Akako had somehow made her way up the ranks to stand alongside the likes of Gin, Vodka, and Chianti. Even _Vermouth_ had felt less threatening than this woman, and _she_ had held a gun to his head while he had been an unconscious hostage.

Koizumi huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Didn't you already say?" She studied him from beneath her lashes. "I'm a sorceress—more specifically, a Red Witch." She smirked. "Asking Lucifer isn't difficult."

_Luci—wait a minute, she cannot really mean—!_ "When you say 'Lucifer'," Conan said slowly, now thoroughly perturbed by the smug woman sitting across from him, "are you referring to—"

"The Fallen One of Judeo-Christian lore?" she interrupted, "Why, yes, I am."

Conan stared in disbelief at the—witch? … really?—in front of him. _I… am not paid at _all_ to deal with something like this. Most unforgiving job _ever_._ He felt an eye twitch in agitation._ Kuroba, I _swear_ that when I eventually see you in the afterlife I am going to kick your ass _so freaking hard_! You never mentioned anything like this!_

Koizumi blinked lackadaisically at him at his continued, flabbergasted silence. "Is it really that difficult to believe?"

"I…" Science was able to explain his de-aging, what with Haibara being the reason he as in his current state to begin with—not that he blamed her, but… witchcraft? "It _is_ a little farfetched…" he hedged.

"Nonetheless, I only speak the truth," the witch replied archly. "If you would like an example, then how is it—" she said, leaning her elbows on the table and tapping a finger on her cheek as a stark sense of foreboding creeped into Conan's body, "—that despite the fact that Edogawa Conan sits before me, I've been speaking to someone _ten years older_?"

Poker Face was the only thing that kept him from physically leaping backwards and out of the chair. _How does she _know_?!_

Her eyes slanted slyly at his. "Believe me now?"

"I—yes," he uttered, thoroughly shaken.

"Good," she hummed as she leaned comfortably back into her seat. "Because one: I don't think you'd like what I'd have to do in order to further prove my abilities to you; and two: I have something else of a similar nature to tell you."

Conan gulped. "Good, I hope…?"

Her smile was distinctly predatory. "I have a feeling it will… _brighten _your _full_ day."

"Oh?" he breathed, intrigued despite himself.

"I have recently been made aware of the den of various creatures that prowl after dark and hunt in the moonlight. It is hidden in plain sight, and obvious if one knows what to look for," she said, red eyes watching him carefully.

A quick debate as to whether or not to pursue the bait she so obviously dangled before him resulted in a strangled, "Please tell me."

Koizumi blinked lazily. "And what are you willing to do for that information?"

"… what?" Her answering question caught him off guard.

"You see…" she purred, leaning onto the table once more and traced the whorls of the table's grain with a manicured finger, "I am not one of your adoring fans willing to do anything for the great Kaitou KID." Her attention flicked sharply up to meet his as she stated, abruptly harsh, "As far as I'm concerned, Kaitou KID is _dead_."

Conan could not help but flinch at the blunt declaration.

"The one that I wanted—the one that could actually fight me, spell for illusion, no longer exists." The intensity of her stare did not ease as she continued. "I know that you are his legitimate heir, but that means nothing to me. So, I'll ask you once more: what are you willing to do for that information?"

He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. "What would you have had him do?" he whispered.

"Him?" Koizumi asked, tapping a pensive fingertip on the tabletop. "He would have given me a child."

"What?!" Conan choked.

The hand on the table curled into a loose fist. "My price for the downfall of those hunting him—and now you as well—down would have been a child of his. He was the only man I've ever known to withstand my allurement spell, and therefore the only one _worthy_ of being the sire of my child. Although…" She eyed him speculatively as she rapped her knuckles lightly on the table, and Conan felt a chill of horror run down his spine. "The Demon of Light might be a suitable replacement."

He flushed. Violently. "No—ah, I can't," he squeaked, mortified beyond measure at the fact that she was actively _propositioning him_.

Koizumi huffed as she leaned back. "I'm not asking you to be a father to my daughter. I'm asking you to be…" she waved a hand expressively, searching for the right words, "… merely the donor of half of her DNA."

"You realize I'm not yet legal…" He trailed off, feeling his stomach roil at her suggestion.

Quick and silent as a snake, she lashed out, bending over the table as she gripped his jaw tight enough to dig her nails into his cheeks. "Don't play coy with me, _Kudou Shinichi_," she hissed in warning, her face centimeters away from his own. "If you want that information, you _will_ do this for me."

He glared defiantly back at her, ignoring the slight pain from her grasp. "And if I don't?" he challenged.

Koizumi narrowed her eyes, even as she relinquished her hold on his jaw and sat back in her seat, once again crossing her arms. "Shall I give you an alternate prediction that I managed to wrench from Lucifer? I'm afraid it won't end well for you at all, Demon of Light—for neither you _nor_ Phantom Lady when she finally makes her reappearance."

"Phantom Lady?" he whispered, fear and confusion spiking in his chest. _Was Chikage planning on returning to her former role and had somehow forgotten to tell me?_

Koizumi merely gazed blankly at him, and Conan obstinately stared back. An amused smirk curled her lips, and at length she broke the stalemate. "You know," she idly remarked as she toyed with a lock of burgundy-colored hair, "_Kuroba Kaito_ would have submitted to my condition—" her expression souring for a fleeting moment before smoothing over once more, "—the _moment_ I mentioned Phantom Lady."

Conan positively _glowered_ at her, disgusted with her use of emotional blackmail. "Too bad for you, I'm not him."

"Clearly," she intoned flatly.

"What will happen to Phantom Lady?" he demanded quietly, worry for his landlady overriding his rather complex feelings for the woman before him.

A small but cunning smile quirked her lips. "Would you like to bargain for that knowledge as well?"

Conan clenched his hands into fists out of a mingled multitude of emotions. "You're a cruel woman, Koizumi," he hissed lowly.

"I'm only cruel because the world forces me to be in order to survive," she said without an ounce of arrogance. She truly believed what she said. Her gaze sharpened on him as she continued scornfully, "And don't think for one second that you wouldn't do the same, because _everyone_ will ultimately always act in their own self-interests."

"Actually, I wouldn't." Koizumi raised a brow in silent inquiry, and Conan nearly snarled, "Excessive cruelty isn't right." He narrowed his eyes, accusing and angry. "And neither is coercion."

Her lips curled in disdain. "You're altogether too optimistic in your fellow human beings if you believe that everyone possesses a sense of altruism."

"I know not everyone does," Conan argued stubbornly, "but I believe in the capacity for human compassion."

Koizumi stared at him for a stressfully long, uncomfortable period of awkward silence before she finally sighed, deeply and almost—defeatedly? "You're incorruptible, it seems."

Conan blinked. _What?_ he thought, blindsided by the complete flip in her attitude.

"Fine, then," she declared, and leaned onto the table with renewed—but somehow different—interest aimed at him. "Let's see how far you will go in your belief in human compassion, Edogawa Conan. I must say I am curious as to whether you will succeed or fail." Her crimson eyes glittered with dark fascination. "Now, if you wish to infiltrate the den…"

* * *

Author's Note: tl;dr: Akako gives in and tells Conan where to find Snake and company's hideout. Dialogue is probably one of my favorite things to write, especially in emotionally fraught situations. Working out the corresponding actions, reactions, and physical habits of the speakers, not so much. And Akako super creeped me out writing this, but to me it makes sense considering how hyperfocused she was on making Kaito hers back when they were in high school. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to poke me on Twitter at taliya_writes.

* * *

Completed: 26.08.2020


End file.
